The unpredictable weather we’ve been having in recent weeks took a strange turn in Mainz yesterday, when local residents described an “extraordinary storm” of banknotes flying out of a window in a high-rise building. Police are investigating where the money came from.

50.000 euros falls from the sky in Mainz

Police in Mainz were called to attend an unusual case on Monday, when residents reported seeing a flurry of banknotes - totalling a value of more than 50.000 euros - fluttering down from a high-rise building. 

According to a police spokesperson, residents collected together the five-digit amount and handed the notes - like good German citizens - over to the police. The spokesperson added that in such instances the old adage “finders keepers” does not apply, and anyone caught pocketing the banknotes could stand accused of embezzlement and face a fine or even imprisonment. 

Police searching for money’s owner

Police are now searching for the owner of the large sum of money, but so far no one has come forward. If no one claims the stack of cash, it will be handed over to the lost and found office of the city of Mainz, where it can be collected by someone with the appropriate proof of ownership. 

It was not apparently clear which building the money fell from, or why it fell. “The suspicions range from money sewn into a pillowcase that accidentally fell out when knocked, to money derived from a crime,” Südwestrundfunk reported.